The Diary of a Young Girl

Anne reread some of her earlier entries and was shocked at how much hate she expressed for her mother. She admits she is still often angry at her mother. However, she also writes, “she didn’t understand me, but I didn’t understand her either” (132). Now, Anne claims that she can control her temper around her mother better. However, she still cannot “love Mother with the devotion of a child” (132).

Anne believes that the root of the tensions between her and her mother is the fact Edith sees Anne and Margot “more as friends than as daughters” (133). Anne thinks this is why Edith makes fun of her when she is upset. Anne recalls a time before the Secret Annex when she wanted to go downtown with her mother and Margot, but her mother told her she could not join them because Anne had her bike with her. When Anne cried in frustration, her mother and Margot laughed at her.

Reading an article on blushing by Sis Heyster makes Anne glad that she is experiencing puberty. Even though her period is “a nuisance,” she feels she is “carrying around a sweet secret” (134). She remembers staying overnight with her friend Jacque.